


everybody want to change the world

by lotuschae (orphan_account)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms
Genre: Allison Argent Lives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Kol Mikaelson, Canon Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Future Fic, Human Rebekah, Kol Mikaelson-Centric, Multi, Original Vampire Kol Mikaelson, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, Post-Teen Wolf (TV), Post-The Originals, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-14 03:56:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19265422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/lotuschae
Summary: After ten years of traveling, and with ten years since the death of his brothers, Kol and Davina decided to settle down in the small town Beacon Hills.Hopefully they would get to live in peace from the supernatural for a few years.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is totally self-indulgent. i wanted to write a version where elijah and klaus never died, buuuut i wanted to play a little with how kol would deal with them dying.
> 
> this is set about ten years into the future, after the season 5 finale.  
> here's a timeline to make it easier:  
> The Originals season 1  
> The Originals season 2  
> The Originals season 3  
> 5 year gap  
> Teen Wolf season 1  
> Teen Wolf season 2 and The Originals season 4 (simultaneously)  
> 7 year gap starts, and Teen Wolf season 3a-6 happens during the start of this 7 year period  
> The Originals season 5 happens  
> 10 year gap before this story starts
> 
> i also want to add that kol does not look like 2019 nathaniel buzolic. he looks like idk 1999 buzolic, more like. kol was supposedly turned when he was 17/18 so thats what he looks like (nate has posted a pic of himself from the 90s so if ur curious u can google)
> 
> other things to keep in mind; the teen wolf gang are in their late twenties/early thirties, allison never died bc fuck jeff davis  
> hope is in her mid twenties ish, davina uses magic to keep herself looking like she's not like thirty
> 
> also rebekah took the cure idc if she had to wait a few decades lmao she took the cure and damon is dead

 

Kol set the final box on the kitchen counter and let his hands fall to rest at his sides. Hunger burned in his stomach, but he ignored it for now. It was always harder to eat on this day, anyway.

It had been ten years, now, since the day his brothers finally turned to dust. Ten years was almost nothing compared to a thousand, but this was something else entirely. He had not been ready to say goodbye to Niklaus, and least of all Elijah on the same day. When he a few days later learned, from Caroline Forbes of all people, that Rebekah had taken the cure... he felt hollow, to say the least. Now Rebekah was older than him, physically and mentally. At least she and Freya had some good years left, but humans only ever lived for so long, and for an immortal it was nothing.

All of his family dying like this really made him feel like he was a child again, seventeen and newly turned, scared and frustrated. He still was, in some ways. His mind did not really get older after he was turned. Maybe he was never really equipped to deal with any of this.

"Kol?"

He turned around at the sound of his wife's voice. He managed a small smile. "I took the last box. We should get to unpacking soon."

They had decided to move to a small town in California a few weeks ago, mostly to get away from Mystic Falls and New Orleans. At first, they stayed close to Mystic Falls, to stay close to Hope and keep an eye on her. When she went off to college in New Orleans they decided to travel the world for a bit, until they finally decided to settle in Beacon Hills.

The supernatural activity there was low, first and foremost when it came to vampires. Davina sensed a couple of werewolves when they first came into town, but Kol could deal with that. He still had some of Niklaus' blood stacked up, and it was not like a werewolf bite would be able to kill him anyway.

"Are you sure you don't want to take a little break first?" she asked. She put a hand on his wrist. He heard the blood pumping in her veins. "Eat something?"

He lifted a hand to her neck, then turned away from her to empty the kitchen boxes. "I'll take something later. I emptied the blood supply while we drove here."

He could tell Davina was crossing her arms behind him. He'd lived alone with her for more than seventeen years, now. He knew her like the back of his hand. She had barely aged a day, thanks to magic, though she looked almost ten years older than him. Soon it would catch up with her properly like it would with his sisters. With Hope. Kol tried not to think about it.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He carefully put down the plates he held. "Hope's coming tomorrow, we should be finished with the house by then."

"Hope will understand," Davina said. She walked to him and took his hands, turned him around again. "It's been ten years. You're allowed to take a moment to grieve, to talk."

For the past few years, he had not really talked about it, had never really wanted to. Never had he ignored Rebekah or Hope if they wanted someone to talk to. He even returned Freya's calls, from time to time. Only to listen to them talk.

"I've been separated from my siblings for longer, before," he said. "Once I was away from them for a hundred years before they caught me in Indonesia."

"This is different, though. Klaus and Elijah aren't just on the other side of the world. They are-"

"I know," he interrupted. Maybe he was still in denial. They were _immortal_. They weren't supposed to die. "I _know_. I just- I want to be able to get through this day, make the house ready for Hope to visit."

Davina raised her eyebrows. He tried not to smile. "Alright, I'll call Rebekah if it makes you feel better, but truth to be told I don't even know where they are. I could be calling when she's sleeping." She needed more sleep, now, when she was human. Vampires had never needed as much sleep as humans.

"She's in Norway with Marcel. Call her in the afternoon." She patted his chest and went to stack the plates he had been messing with. "Now, go check the hospital for leftover blood. You've been staring at my neck all day."

He smiled at her, as earnest as he managed. "I'm not that-"

"I know you haven't eaten anything since yesterday. _Go._ " She pushed him playfully away, her smile creating wrinkled around her eyes.

Kol raised his hands. "Fine, fine. I'll go get something to eat, but you better be done with the kitchen when I'm back!"

"I will!" she laughed. He left the house to go hunting.

 

\------------

 

Kol rarely ever went hunting humans, anymore. He knew Davina disliked it, and with the rise of social media, it was hard being a never-aging immortal at all, never mind actually feeding on humans. He almost missed the old days, honestly.

So, instead of hunting for humans on his first day in a new town, he went to the hospital. It was not a very busy hospital, he could tell. Hopefully no one would notice him sneaking around for blood. He went up to the front desk. There he had to wait for a redhead to finish speaking to the staff.

"I'm sorry, Miss Martin, but only her immediate family can see her at the moment," the desk-lady said. To her credit, she did actually look apologetic.

The redhead, Martin, made a frustrated sound. "Listen, Allison doesn't _have_ family here. I'm her best friend. Let me see her."

The desk-lady sighed and closed her eyes. "Alright, I'll talk to her doctor and see what I can do. Until then, you have to wait. I'm sorry."

Martin seemed to accept this because she stepped aside so Kol could speak to her. She walked to the other end of the desk and picked up a pamphlet to busy herself with.

"Hi, how can I help you?" the desk-lady asked.

Kol gave her his most charming smile and looked deep into her eyes. "Could you give me access to the blood supply, pretty please?"

"Of course!" she replied happily. "I just have to contact someone to get you there, hold on."

While the desk-lady was at work, a man wearing sheriff's clothes entered. He was in his late twenties, possibly the same age as Martin. The two obviously knew each other, because she ran up to him at once.

"Stiles," she said. Kol frowned. A strange nickname.

"How is Allison?" he asked.

Martin shook her head. "They won't let me see her yet. Did you find out what happened?"

Stiles lowered his voice, but that was no use. Kol could hear him perfectly. "A lot of her blood was sucked out. We haven't seen anything like it before. She got a bite mark on her neck, just like the body we found in the woods the other day. Allison's lucky she wasn't drained empty."

A vampire? Strange. This town had not had any suspicious supernatural activity in almost a decade according to Davina. A vampire attacking, especially so carelessly, did not match.

"Bite mark?" Martin echoed. "You don't think it was any of the werewolves?"

Stiles shook his head. "Lyds, I know you'll think I'm crazy, but I got a theory."

"Oh? Do tell."

Whatever theory the sheriff-guy had was interrupted by another woman entering the waiting room. She looked confused as to why she was called there at all.

"Lillian, why did you call me here? We can't give access to just anyone."

The woman spoke loudly enough to attract the attention of the other two in the room, but Kol was not too worried. Today he barely cared at all.

He gave the new woman a warm smile and put magic over his voice. "You will show me the blood supply and let me take with me anything I want. After that, you will forget me and go back to work." He turned to the woman at the desk. "You too, darling. Forget I was ever here."

He did not bother compelling the other two. Hopefully they had not heard anything he said, anyway.

He followed the woman to their blood supply.

 

\--------

Walking around town with several litres of blood in his backpack was not the smartest thing he had done in his life, but he had to run by the store before he went back home to Davina. He had Hope on the phone, discussing what she would want to eat for dinner. She had not yet tapped into her vampire side, so he could not offer her blood.

"Does beef sound good?" he asked, looking through the meat section. Personally, he had never really liked any human food after he became a vampire. He only ever ate to pretend to be one of them, and it was a chore to eat when he was put into a witch body.

" _You don't have to go all out for me, Uncle Kol_ ," Hope responded.

Kol picked it up and put it in the cart. "Nonsense. You're my favourite niece."

" _I'm your_ only _niece_."

"No, no, Freya's darling daughter will soon be born, and then you might be demoted."

Hope laughed " _Thanks._ "

Kol noticed someone watching him, but he did not catch the eye of anyone in his isle. He could hear a few heartbeats scattered around the store, but no one in a position where they could spy on him. Maybe the family paranoia was catching up to him again.

"So when _are_ you coming to town?" he asked. He was now in the alcohol section, deciding on whether he should buy a couple of the beers Hope seemed to like, or stick to the ancient wine he had at home.

"By noon hopefully. My plane lands at noon, then I'll just have a few hours to drive before I get there."

"Good. Can't wait to have you here. Davina has been missing you."

"I've missed her too. And you, Uncle Kol. I gotta go now, get some rest before I pack my suitcase. Love you!"

Kol put a six-pack of beer in the cart. What else would she like? Vegetables, maybe? "Love you too."

He hung up and pocketed his phone. Before long he had gotten everything he thought he needed, and a few extra supplies. Their fridge was empty and Davina needed food as well. He compelled the register guy to let him buy the alcohol, despite looking like he was seventeen. Sometimes he cursed the fact that he would forever look like a teenager, but for the most part he didn't mind. It made it easier to pretend to be an innocent, naive kid when he needed to.

He walked out with two paper bags and a full backpack, decided to take everything with human speed now. No reason to attract attention in a small town, after all. On the way he constantly felt like he was being watched, despite there being no heartbeats around him. He shook the feeling off. It was probably his brain's way of guilt-tripping him for not dealing with what happened to his brothers. Nothing to worry about.


	2. Chapter 2

Hope came in the afternoon the next day, looking as beautiful as ever, if not a little tired from the long travel. Kol made them dinner while Davina and Hope sat by the kitchen island, drinking the beer he bought yesterday. The mood in the room was light, despite the anniversary looming over them. He was glad Hope looked happy. Kol did not know her mother well, but he knew that Niklaus would hate for her to be sad over his death forever.

"How is Freya doing?" Davina asked. Hope had visited her before coming to them.

"She's great," Hope said. "Her pregnancy is doing fine, nothing fishy is going on. She and Keelin are happy. They talked about moving to France when the baby comes."

That was good. He did not have many feelings left for Freya, but above all, she was his sister and he wanted her to be happy. He'd been the priest at their wedding, for Christ's sake. Whatever qualms he had for her taking part in Davina's death, he still cared for her.

"Good choice," Kol said. "France is beautiful. I spent a few decades there in the 1600s. Truly delicious food. Some civil unrest as well, but what's France without some revolting?"

Davina raised an amused eyebrow. "Don't tell me you started a revolution."

"Hey now, darling, it wasn't _meant_ to be a revolution."

Hope coughed into her hand. "Have you heard from Aunt Rebekah? She didn't respond to my call the other day, and neither did Marcel."

Davina smiled. "She's in Norway, last I heard."

"In Norway?" Hope asked, frowning.

Kol finished preparing the food and put it down on the kitchen isle. They had not yet bought a proper dining table, so this would have to do. He did not bother to pretend to eat anything now, and instead poured himself a glass of A+. Food often could sate the bloodthirst a little, but it scratched his throat in an unbearable way.

"She said something about exploring home? I'm not sure." Davina and Hope both took a serving of the dinner.

"I thought she was born in Mystic Falls," Hope said.

Kol sipped from the glass. He felt his vampire eyes pressing and hoped the other two did not notice. "Our family lived there when Finn and Freya were young," he said. "Our parents left with Finn after Freya was taken. She gave birth to Elijah on the ship sailing here."

Hope frowned. "Uncle Elijah always said you were all born here..."

"Not all of us," he said, smiled sadly. "But, it was a long time ago, and my memory isn't what it used to be."

"What about when you were born?" Davina asked. She leaned to rest her elbows on the countertop, the food forgotten in front of her. Her head was tilted adorably and he could not help but smile.

"Well, I don't exactly remember being born, but I assure you it was no different than any other birth in the 900s. Our childhood wasn't much different either, though I did practice witchcraft as soon as I could."

Hope poked at her food. "I've never thought how strange all of this must be for you. From the Viking Age to now. I mean, we're soon in the 2040s, that must be strange for you."

Kol let out a laugh, happy his niece was so interested. Hope had rarely asked any of them about what it was like when they were human, before their world was forever changed.

"The language had always been the hardest part after we turned into vampires. Let me tell you, I didn't speak English until the 1800s, and even then it was barely passable. Though, it wasn't like they plucked me out of year 1000 and put me here," he said. "Not like with Finn, anyway."

Davina glared at her food at the mention of his brother. Hope frowned. "Finn... he's your brother, right? Mom mentioned him, but she didn't really talk about him. Dad always changed the subject."

_With good reason_ , Kol thought. He supposed Hope was old enough to know, now. "Well, Finn was a tremendous ass, in many ways. I suppose... I suppose some of it was our fault, in a way. When we were first turned he was filled with self-hatred. He hated what we had become, hated what we had to do to survive. Every day he was a threat to our survival. He would have exposed us if he had not been daggered - which was not our fault, by the way. Keeping him daggered, however, was. He was daggered for 900 years before Elijah and the Salvatore's finally undaggered the lot of us." He smiled at the memory of that day. It felt like a lifetime ago.

"Did none of you miss him?" Hope asked, ever the sweet girl.

Kol knew without having to search his heart, that he did not. He never really had. "No," he said, honestly. "Elijah might have, once upon a time, but the rest of us were never close to him. Those first hundred years as vampires did nothing to bring us closer to him. I parted from them after the first 30 years, actually. And, well, when he came back as a witch in New Orleans he did all kinds of crazy things."

Davina said nothing. Hope looked curious. "What kind of crazy things?"

"Well, he wanted to kill you when you were a baby. Mother dearest manipulated him into it. He killed me, amongst... other things. Not exactly brother of the year."

Hope frowned at her food. Yet another dark part of her family tree. The poor girl would never catch a break.

There was a knock on the door and two heartbeats right outside when Hope started eating again. Kol stood up. "I'll get it."

Just his luck. It was the sheriff-guy from the hospital. With him was a girl, definitely supernatural by the smell of her. He could not decide what exactly she was, yet.

Sheriff-guy recognized him, but he said nothing on it. "You're the guy that just moved in, yes? Kol Mikaelson?"

He smiled politely. "That's me."

"Are any of your parents home?" the girl asked.

Kol managed not to roll his eyes. "Don't let my young looks fool you. I am married." He lifted his hand with the wedding ring just to hammer the point home.

"Oh, sorry," the woman said. She reached out a hand. "I'm Malia Hale. This is Stiles Stilinski. I live right across the street from you."

So that _was_ actually his name. Kol would stick to Stilinski, it was less annoying to say in his head.

"I live right next door," Stilinski said. He pointed to the dark blue house on the right of them. Well, nice to know he was neighbours with a cop. Great. As if the 21st century wasn't hard enough already.

"I'm Kol Mikaelson," he responded, shaking her hand. "But you already knew that."

Malia's nose twitched and her eyes locked on the kitchen door further in the hallway. "Did we interrupt you during dinner?" she asked, apologetic.

Kol smiled. "Not at all. One always must make time for guests," he said. He heard silent steps behind him and glanced back to see Davina come from the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around Kol's waist.

"Who are you?" she asked, a sweet smile on her face.

"Stiles and Malia," Kol said. "Neighbours."

"Oh! How nice. I'm Davina. Do you want to come in?"

Kol tried not to react. Davina _knew_ there were blood bags in the kitchen. Hopefully she or Hope cleaned them up.

The four of them walked into the kitchen, where Hope still sat eating her food. They had an opened water bottle in the middle of the island, two glasses full. The blood bags were nowhere to be seen, but Kol's half-full glass was still where he left it. Hopefully whatever Malia was she could not smell blood.

He grabbed the glass and emptied it at one go, turned away from the others. He still felt hungry, but that would have to do for now. Maybe some water would keep his body satisfied until he could find something real to eat.

All of them sat down around the kitchen island. They introduced Hope as Kol's niece, which confused both Stilinski and Malia. Kol could not blame them when Hope looked a whole ten years older than him. Malia and Stilinski both were offered a plate of food, and both accepted gladly.

"So what brought you to Beacon Hills?" Malia asked. The way she asked the question made it sound like there was something else behind it, but Kol decided to ignore that.

"We've been travelling for many years," Davina said. "We decided to finally settle down somewhere, and this town drew us in."

Stilinski laughed. "Yeah, Beacon Hills tends to have that effect on people."

"What about you, Hope? Are you staying here as well?"

"No," Hope said. "I live in New Orleans. I'm just visiting for an anniversary."

"Anniversary?"

Hope nodded, smiled sadly. "Anniversary of my parents, uh, dying. They died a few years ago."

Malia smiled sadly back. "I'm so sorry. My mother is dead, as well. She died when I was a kid."

"Mine too," Stiles said. "It's rough."

Kol decided not to mention anything of his own parents.

 

\----------

 

When the night came closer, Stilinski and Malia bid them goodbye. Hope stayed, but Kol decided he needed to go out for a walk. The thirst had only grown stronger and being so close to four people he could potentially feed on was not very good.

After walking for half an hour, he felt like someone was watching him. Paranoia, again. There were no heartbeats on the street with him. It was only him. He shoved his hands in his pockets. The sun had gone down completely now. He knew Davina would get worried if he was gone for too long, but it did not matter now. She'd understand that he needed room to breathe for the day, especially with Hope right there. She looked so much like Niklaus, it almost hurt. He loved his niece, he _did_ , but it hurt.

He walked through a quieter part of the town, where the buildings were worse for wear and people few and far between. Still, it felt like someone was watching him. He looked for almost anything to distract himself. The sound of someone screaming caught his attention. Against his better judgement, he ran there as fast as he could.

The source of the sound was a young woman. She was all alone, but Kol heard a racing heartbeat further down the street.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He stepped closer to her, and that was when he smelled it. Blood. She was bleeding.

"Call 911, please," she pleaded. The woman tried to sit up, but she groaned and fell back down. Kol rushed to help her, not thinking twice about helping her to her feet. She asked him something, he thought, but it was all fogged up in his brain. Hunger overtook his mind. He felt fangs in his mouth. The woman suddenly looked terrified.

Before he knew it, his fangs were deep in the side of her throat. Her screams in his ears felt almost euphoric, and the taste of fresh human blood was incredible. He had forgotten what it was like, in the while since he'd last indulged in his bloodthirst. Taking warm blood, fresh from the human body, felt better than what any drug in the world could provide.

The woman stopped screaming and her heart slowed. Her body went limp in his grip. Her heart went out as her body hit the ground.

Kol rubbed a hand over his mouth. _Fuck_. Fuck. What had he done? Shit. Davina was going to kill him.

"What's going on here?"

Kol froze at the sound of a familiar voice. Stiles Stilinski. The sheriff guy. _This is just my fucking luck._ He heard Stilinski come closer, but he stopped when he had a clear view of the body. Kol heard the unmistakable sound of a gun clicking. This was not good.

"Get away from her!" Stilinski shouted. "I'm armed police. Do not try anything stupid."

Kol knew he could not outrun a bullet, but he could outrun a reaction. He used all his speed and strength to get to the rooftop on his right and headed home.

 

\---------

 

Kol had compelled his way into a motel room to clean up before he went back to the house. Hope was still there. Her and Davina had moved to the living room and sat on the couch, sipping ancient wine while watching a reality show. Kol hoped they did not notice his change of clothes since going out. He'd stolen something with the same colours as he had when he walked out.

"How was the walk?" Davina asked when he entered the living room.

He smiled, sat down in one of the armchairs. "It was good. Beacon Hills is beautiful at night."

His whole body felt jittery, and he would be lying if he did not confess that he felt more energized, more himself, after draining that woman. Yeah, Davina would never know about this. It was only a one-time thing, anyway. This would not repeat itself. He was just anxious and moody over Niklaus and Elijah. That was _all_.

Hope wrinkled her nose while staring at him. "Do you smell blood?"

Typical Mikaelson, never one to skirt around anything. Davina frowned at him as well, though she luckily could not smell it.

Kol thought he'd cleaned himself of all the blood, but something had stuck. "I brought a blood bag with me before I left, that's probably it."

If the girls thought he was lying, they did not mention it. He'd been acting off and jittery for the past few days, but he hoped they boiled it down to it being about his brothers. They, of course, did not know him before New Orleans. They did not know to look for the signs that he was spiralling again. Not that there _were_ any. He was grieving, not spiralling.

Fake it till you make it, was that not what humans said?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not gonna lie i'm not sure where i'm going with this story lmao especially since i've started planning an original book, but i'll try to make time for both

The next week went without a hitch. Hope had gone back to New Orleans and Kol had not heard anything about the dead body he left in the alley. Davina lucked out and got a job at the hospital, partly thanks to Kol's incredible persuasion power. Kol had not bothered to get a job yet. Job had not exactly been his top priority, ever, and he could compel himself anything.

Now he resorted to wandering around the house instead, finishing the last boxes and putting things away in the study. The study was their little supernatural haven. Having centuries old grimoires sitting on the bookshelf in the living room could raise questions, and so could most of the things that filled their study. They had some magical artefacts, some that Kol had created once upon a time. They had old scripts of writers long forgotten, books in languages long dead. Kol liked to pick them up from time to time, freshen up his language skills.

He'd always had a better knack of learning languages than his siblings had, and it came without any bad sides. One could not compel someone unless one spoke their languages, after all.

The most important part of their study, however, was the wall decorated with family pictures. They did not have many of them, as vampires tended to stay away from cameras as much as they could, but the few that existed were ones that they cherished.

They had a picture of Kol with all his siblings, save for Finn, taken only minutes before Elijah and Niklaus killed themselves. He had a picture of Marcel and Niklaus, Josh and Davina, one of Hope with her parents, Hope with her aunts, Hope with her uncles... It was safe to say they had a lot of Hope pictures. Not all photos were taken in the hell weeks of their family history, however.

Niklaus and Elijah, the sentimental fools, had saved pictures of them all from the decades since the camera was first invented, and paintings from before that. Kol saved them all. He was afraid he would forget them if he did not.

He was in the middle of reading a 13th century Gothic book when he heard barking from the backyard. He and Davina did not have any pets, so the sound of a dog was strange. He went out back to find out what the problem was, only to find a Labrador jumping around in the grass. Dogs were never particularly fond of vampires, like they could sense something was off about them. That still rung true, as the Labrador started growling the second Kol walked out the door.

"Wow, hey, mate," Kol said, raised his hands to make himself look innocent. "Now, what are you doing in my backyard, huh?"

He left the book on the back porch and stepped slowly towards the dog. It was still growling at him. He bent down a little to seem less threatening. The dog could not really hurt him, after all.

"You know," he whispered, "my brother would have killed you if you stepped into _his_ backyard like this." The dog straightened up a bit, but kept growling. Kol reached for his neck. "Lucky for you I'm not the psychopath my brother was. Well, not completely anyway."

He got a hold of his collar. _Nick._

Kol pulled his hand away like he was burned. That had to be some sort of sick cosmic joke. _Fuck the bloody universe, honestly._

"Nick? Where are you?"

Kol turned to the sound of a woman's voice coming from the other house. The house Stilinski pointed to the other day, he recalled. Out came the woman Stilinski had talked to in the hospital. Did she live there as well?

"Excuse me love, is this your dog?"

The dog had not really reacted to her except the smallest twitch of its ears, but the woman - what did the desk-lady call her, Miss Martin? - let out a breath of relief. She easily jumped over the fence and trudged over to them.

"I'm so sorry about this," she said. "He has a habit of running off." The dog sauntered over to her, eyes still on Kol.

"It's no problem, really. I'm Kol."

Martin smiled politely. "Just moved in, right? I'm Lydia Martin." He shook her hand. Suddenly her eyes narrowed with interest. "Wait, you're the guy from the hospital, right?"

Kol's eyes widened, innocent, naive. "I haven't had time to be at the hospital yet. Nor have I had a reason to, luckily."

He tried to laugh it off, but he could tell Lydia did not believe him. "How are you liking Beacon Hills so far?" she asked.

"Very well. It's not, ah, quite as lavish as I am used to, but I manage," he joked.

She raised an eyebrow, not very amused. "Rich family?"

"Something like that. I've never really lived in the same place for long at a time."

Lydia nodded. "Sounds freeing. And, well, lonely. I've lived here my whole life, not counting college. I wouldn't have the friends I have now if I hadn't been here for so long."

Strangely enough she hit the nail right on the head. It had been lonely, even with his family around. An immortal existence was a lonely one. Kol had long ago learned to live with that.

(It was harder now, of course, with two mortal sisters, a mortal niece and a mortal wife, but he refused to think about that. At least he had Marcel, who was equally as immortal as him.)

(Imagining him and Marcellus, alone at the end of the world, was strange. Bitter. He shook the thought out of his head.)

"I can see that," he said. "But, I'd never met my wife if it hadn't been for all the travelling."

Lydia frowned. "You have a wife?"

"Not as young as I look." Kol held up the hand with the wedding ring. "We met in New Orleans a few years ago."

"I think Stiles mentioned you," she said, nodding to herself. He possibly more than mentioned him. It was all he could hope that Stilinski had not recognized it was Kol that night in the alley.

He laughed. "I would hope so. He and his friend Malia came by the other day, we offered them dinner."

"Ah, yes. Your wife's name was Davina, right? And your... daughter, Hope?"

"Niece. She left for home the other day."

They stood in silence for a moment, and Kol could tell that Lydia was searching his face for something. Had she recognized him as an Original? He doubted it. No Mikaelson had ever liked California much. They tended to stay in the Midwest and on the East Coast if they visited America at all. Kol himself much more liked Europe and Asia. Desert had never really called for him. The Mikaelsons all knew older, more dangerous supernatural beings lived in the desert. They would hate to anger them by stepping on their lands.

Finally Lydia spoke again. "I have to get going. I'm preparing for a party later."

"A party?" he asked. Kol was never one to refuse a good party, no matter the circumstance.

"Not a _party_ party. BBQ only, in our backyard. You and Davina can come, if you want! I would love to meet her."

"Of course," he said. "I'll ask her when she comes home from work."

Lydia bid him goodbye and took the dog back to her house.

 

His phone rung upstairs when he came back in. He must have left it in the study while sorting out the old books. He did not bother using vampirism to get there faster. Hunger had gotten stronger, quicker, the past week, and so his energy was drained quicker. The blood-fridge in the basement was almost empty already. It had been almost 17 years since he emptied a supply so quickly, and that was when his hunger was possessed by vengeful New Orleans witches.

_Bekah_ lit up his screen when he grabbed the phone, accompanied by a picture the two of them had taken together, long ago. It must have been more than twenty years ago, when Kol was newly un-daggered and stepped into the world of the living for the first time since the 1910s. It had been the longest time he had stayed daggered.

"Rebekah, my favourite sister. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He would be lying if he said he was not nervous to hear her voice. He had not seen her in person since she took the cure (hadn't dared to, was too scared of how she would have changed - pictures were enough), but lately he had noticed her voice maturing from the sound it had when she was still sixteen in appearance. It was unsettling.

" _Imagine my surprise when I took a look at the little town you moved to and saw two blood-drained bodies on the news_."

Kol was glad she could not see his face. His eyes hardened, but he tried to keep his voice light. "I'll have you know I'm on a strict A+ blood bag diet." He started walking downstairs and back outside. He needed some air.

Rebekah hummed. " _That's what you said about the body in Bulgaria."_

"To be absolutely fair, ripping their heart out was a complete accident. I was only trying to save myself."

He stepped outside on the porch. Lydia was in her backyard, with Malia and a dark-haired guy. That one was definitely a wolf. He wondered if the wolf could sense him.

Rebekah coughed. That was another thing Kol had to get used to. He hadn't caught a cold in a thousand years. They were regular for her now.

" _Honestly, Kol. Do you want to talk?"_

He sat down on the steps down to the grass, pretended not to notice that Malia and the wolf were looking at him. A werewolf's hearing wasn't that good, he knew. They would barely be able to hear what he was saying, let alone Rebekah.

"There's nothing to talk about."

She scoffed. " _Don't lie to me."_

"Oh, we both know I haven't been able to lie to you for at least a millennium. You know me too well, sister."

" _Unfortunately_."

They were silent for a few seconds. If Kol concentrated hard enough he could hear a piano somewhere on her end. Marcel, possibly.

" _Can we facetime?"_

Kol's whole body sagged. "I'm in the sort of predicament you would not like to see with your own eyes."

" _You're not covered in blood, are you?_ "

"Seriously? I am wounded, Becks. No, I'm naked, head to toe."

A heartbeat skipped across the fence. The wolf was listening in.

" _Seeing you from the neck up without clothes will be no more scarring than Peru in 17-"_

"You promised not to bring that up!"

" _Put me on video and I won't."_

She drove a hard bargain, that stubborn woman. Reluctantly he pushed the video button and waited for Rebekah's face to show up on his screen.

He was in luck, for once in his life. Rebekah had an awful connection. He could barely make out her face in the pixels.

" _Is my camera working?"_ she muttered.

Kol grinned. "Perfectly."

" _Oh!"_ she exclaimed, a smile playing at her lips. " _Kol, you haven't aged a day_."

"Perks of being immortal."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, but smiled still. " _I needed to see your face to say this. It's probably bad timing, but I really don't think our brothers would have minded..."_

She was rambling, clearly nervous about something. The piano playing stopped. In the background, he could hear Marcel. " _Are you telling him?"_

_"Yes, I'm telling him now."_

"Telling me what?" he interrupted. His eyebrows were furrowed in worry. Was something going on with Rebekah? She had a frail, human body now, after all, anything could ruin it, ruin _her_ , and if that happened Kol would be truly-

" _I'm pregnant!_ "

-alone. Wait, what? The shock must have shown on his face as something else entirely, because Rebekah quickly questioned if he was okay.

"Wow, that's... Bekah, that's awesome." _And so, so mortal._ "Wait, Marcellus, you didn't-"

" _It's not mine, obviously,"_ Marcel interrupted. He was behind her, barely visible with the bad pixilation. _"It's a donor."_

Kol nodded. "Right." He had heard about that before. Freya had done that. Davina talked about that, at one point. Kol had shut her down quickly. (It wasn't like he did not _want_ children, but they would be so mortal and so frail. He had enough worrying about the rest of his family.)

(Once he had berated Rebekah for getting attached to mortals so easily. Look at where he was now.)

"I am happy for you, sister, truly. Nik and Elijah would be too."

She smiled sadly at the mention of them. " _Thank you, Kol. Freya is well, right? I haven't told her yet since she's due soon herself. I don't want to take away the spotlight from her."_

"As if you could ever take the spotlight from her little witch. Freya will be ecstatic to hear that you're with child."

" _That's what I told her,_ " Marcel said.

Kol smiled. "Always the bright one, Marcellus. I trust you're treating my sister right?" he asked. The underlying threat was clear as day, of course.

" _I trust you're treating Davina right?"_ he shot back.

To be frank, he and Marcel were on much better terms now. There was still an underlying bitterness between them. They _had_ tried to kill each other in the past on multiple occasions, some attempts with more success than others. Alas, Davina saw him as a father and Kol would not take that away from her.

"Kol!"

Speaking of witch... "I have to go. I'll be sure to update Davina with your news."

With that he hung up and went back inside to share the news with his lovely wife.

(Secretly he hoped it would not make Davina push for children, again. He wasn't ready for that. He was a thousand-year-old seventeen-year-old. Not an adult.)

**Author's Note:**

> hope you found this interesting!


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